Francis Bourgeois

About

Francis Bourgeois is a British content creator known for his train-spotting videos on TikTok. He began posting content on TikTok sometime in 2020 but didn't receive viral attention on the platform until February 2021. Since then, he has gained roughly 635,000 followers as of late October 2021. In his videos, the combination of close-up 360° GoPro footage of his face, his strange laugh and accent, and his devotion to train knowledge has granted him a cult following. In October 2021, his content began to circulate on other platforms more heavily, like Twitter and Instagram.

Online History

Francis Bourgeois's TikTok^[1] account is called @francis.bourgeois. On February 2nd, 2021, he posted the first video^[2] still available on his page (shown below) where he appears to be on Instagram Live with hip-hop artist Digga D. The video is faked but Bourgeois received roughly 1.2 million plays and 178,500 likes regardless over the course of nine months.

Bourgeois posted more faked Instagram Live videos on his TikTok over the course of February 2021, including in them celebrities like Kendall Jenner^[3] and Billie Eilish,^[4] among others. One that he posted on March 3rd, 2021,^[5] received over 1 million plays and depicts him showing UK hip-hop artist Swarmz a train passing beneath him (shown below).

Bourgeois began using a GoPro strapped to his forehead starting with a video^[6] he posted on March 31st, 2021. The video (shown below, left) is captioned "I bought a GoPro to film my face then I saw the Network Rail High Output Electrification Train and it made me so happy!" The video received roughly 658,600 plays and 57,100 likes over seven months. The first TikTok^[7] he posted to break over 2 million plays was posted on April 13th, 2021, and it received roughly 6.3 million plays and 988,300 likes over six months (shown below, right).

Continuing into 2021, Bourgeois cemented his video style across many videos that he posted. He received over 6 million plays a second time^[8] on July 4th, 2021, receiving roughly 6.7 million plays and 1 million likes (shown below, left).

On October 24th, 2021, Bourgeois posted a video^[9] that spread more notably to other platforms, mostly because the train featured in the video was named "Dick Mabbutt," something that Bourgeois mentions in the video but doesn't make a big deal about. The video (shown below, right) received 3.8 million plays and 537,400 likes over the course of one day.

Spread To Other Platforms

Most notably after the October 24th TikTok with the "Dick Mabbutt" train, Bourgeois's content was reposted to other platforms like Instagram and Twitter. For instance, Twitter^[10] account @shrimp_delight tweeted the video on October 24th, captioning it "SORRY what’s this train called??? say it again my guy". The tweet (shown below) received roughly 81,600 likes in less than 24 hours. Instagram^[11] account @agirlsaid also reposted his "Dick Mabbutt" video on October 24th and received roughly 11,300 likes in less than 24 hours.

More Twitter accounts began posting memes using screenshots from the "Dick Mabbutt" video going into October 25th, 2021. For instance, Twitter^[12] account @Papapishu tweeted a screenshot from the video with the caption "POV you’re in England" and received roughly 4,700 likes in less than 24 hours.

Francis Bourgeois and Rosalía

On March 23rd, 2022, Francis Bourgeois was filming another trainspotting TikTok^[13] in London at King’s Cross Station. Whether it was scripted or not, Bourgeois noticed that Spanish music star Rosalía was standing on the platform in front of him. He proceeded to approach her, asking her if she was Rosalía and also asking what she was doing there. The two formed an unlikely, trainspotting duo, waving goodbye to the Class 91 train. Over the course of two days, the video received roughly 1.7 million plays and 161,800 likes (shown below, left).

The next day, on the 24th, Bourgeois uploaded a follow-up TikTok^[14] that included more footage of their interaction. This second video earned roughly 1.9 million plays and 341,700 likes in one day (shown below, right).

The video of them spread to Twitter in the following days. Most notably, on March 23rd, when the first video was reposted by Twitter^[15] user borjaswift who earned roughly 1,400 likes in two days. Twitter^[16] user CRlSXCX reposted the part two video on the 24th, earning roughly 4,900 likes in one day.

Memes that captioned screenshots from the TikToks started to populate Twitter. For instance, on March 24th, Twitter^[17] user charlitski captioned a screenshot with, "MotoMami turning into TrainMami when I tell her about the benefits of public transportation," earning roughly 223,200 likes in one day (shown below).

Speculation that the encounter was staged stemmed from a collab video Bourgeois made with Joe Jonas, part of the Jonas Brothers, back in January 2022. This aforementioned TikTok^[18] was posted on January 12th, 2022, and earned roughly 8.4 million plays and 1.5 million likes over the course of two months (shown below, left). He also posted a follow-up video the next day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References